Devota
A feminine name of Latin origin meaning "dedicated" or "devoted".
Name Census estimates that about 28 living Americans carry the first name Devota. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Devota today is around 83 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Devota births was 1929 (12 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Devota. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
Key insights
- • The typical person named Devota is about 83 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Devotas were born before 1953.
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Devota. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
28
~ 1 in 12,241,226 Americans
Peak year
1929
12 babies that year
Average age
83
years old
1952 SSA rank
#5,767
Tracked since 1909
Census
Devota in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 143 people with the first name Devota, which placed it at #46,519 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#46,519
National first-name rank
People counted
143
143 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.0
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
60.1% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Devota
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Devota is White at 60.1%. The next largest groups are Black (25.2%) and Two or More Races (6.3%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Devota described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Devota at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White60.1% · 86
- Black or African American25.2% · 36
- Two or more races6.3% · 9
- Asian and Pacific Islander4.9% · 7
- Hispanic or Latino3.5% · 5
Popularity
Devota: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Devota from the 1900s through to the 1950s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1910s, with 57 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1910s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Devota by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Devota during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Devota
The name Devota has its origins in Latin and was derived from the word "devota," which means "devoted" or "consecrated." This name was initially associated with religious devotion and piety in ancient Roman culture.
During the early Christian era, the name Devota gained prominence as it was bestowed upon several martyrs and saints who exhibited unwavering devotion to their faith. One of the earliest recorded examples is Saint Devota, a Corsican martyr who lived in the 4th century AD and is venerated as the patron saint of Corsica and Monaco.
In the Middle Ages, the name Devota was particularly popular among devout Christians, especially in parts of Italy and southern France. It was often given to women who dedicated their lives to religious service or charitable works.
The first known historical figure with the name Devota was a 7th-century Italian abbess from the Benedictine order. She was renowned for her piety and her role in establishing several convents in the region of Campania.
Another notable figure was Devota of Velletri, an Italian woman who lived in the 12th century and is revered as a Blessed in the Catholic Church for her charitable works and devotion to the poor.
In the 14th century, Devota Semenzi was a prominent Italian mystic and writer from Bologna. She was known for her spiritual visions and her writings on the contemplative life.
During the Renaissance period, the name Devota was particularly popular among noble Italian families. One example is Devota della Rovere, a 15th-century Italian noblewoman who was the daughter of Felice della Rovere, a relative of Pope Sixtus IV.
In the 17th century, Devota Garofalo was an Italian painter and engraver from Ferrara. She was celebrated for her religious works and her skill in portraiture.
While the name Devota has its roots in religious contexts, it has also been used more broadly to symbolize devotion, commitment, and dedication in various spheres of life throughout history.
People
Devota + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Devota as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with D
Other first names starting with D with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Devota: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Devota?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 28 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Devota going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 12,241,226 US residents.
Is Devota a common name?
We classify Devota as "Very Rare". It ranks above 45.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 200 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Devota most popular?
The single biggest year for Devota was 1929, when 12 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Devota is about 83 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Devota in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 143 people with the name Devota, or 0.05 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #46,519 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Devota in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Devota?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Devota leans strongly female. 139 people counted with this name were female (95.9%), compared with 6 male bearers (4.1%). The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Devota?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Devota is White at 60.1%. The next largest groups are Black (25.2%) and Two or More Races (6.3%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Devota most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Devota in the 2020 Census, accounting for 60.1% (86 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Devota in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Devota a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Devota in the SSA data are female. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Devota still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Devota in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Devota can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
How many people are called Devota?
You can see how many people have the name Devota on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — same data roots, lighter UI.